I finally got around to trying this out after getting it in the humble monthly a while ago. I’m pretty sure this isn’t for me. On the spectrum that SadleyBradley mentions above, relaxing -> boring, I’m afraid I fall on the boring side of the scale. Before I give up an move on, am I missing something? I pretty much find the game has Sadley has described. I possible plant some seeds, water my plants, harvest if ready, sell the crops, find people to talk to and clear more land.

I don’t enjoy the wandering around looking for people to talk to. I somehow can’t find 2 people to hit the opening goal of meeting a certain number of people.

I don’t think my opinion would change if I was feeding animals or some other chore.

To me, I think it boils down to the sense of progression. There is something about the gradual expansion of a farm alongside that feeling of wanting and needing to do more balanced against discovering more about the people and world around them. The only suggestion I would offer is that the first month (Spring) does suck, but I found it got better once I hit Summer. What helped for me is knowing that as with all games of this style (ie: Harvest Moon, Rune Factory) the first month is always terrible.

Paul Dean spends a year in Stardew Valley [official site], ahead of the game’s one year anniversary later this month, and reflects on the work that goes into building a life, virtual or otherwise. The farm I’ve inherited is a mess. It’s nothing more...

I somehow can’t find 2 people to hit the opening goal of meeting a certain number of people.

I couldn’t figure out how to give someone a fish, one of my first quests. It was in my inventory and I tracked the individual down in the town (is there an option for quest markers? That was a task which took more than a day in game). I figured out how to speak with the person, but no option to give the fish popped up anywhere.

I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be playing so I was trying to rush my crops so I have the money to build the chicken coup. I just built the smelter. I guess I could use the extra time to go to the mines to kill creatures and get more ore.

There are lots of collection type things in the game… fruits that only blossom during certain seasons, fish you can only catch not only during certain seasons but at certain times of year… then there are all the tasks you do to open up more areas of the map… .it’s kind of a always got a goal in front of you approach game.

Quick question: does the game have an end date? If so, does it allow New Game + or for the player to just keep going if he wants or is it all over?

There is an event that happens after a certain period of time where you essentially get a score, trying not to spoil here, after that is basically the end game where you can try and increase that score. ConcernedApe added a lot with v1.1 I just haven’t completed yet, and I believe one of those quests is towards the end game or I guess mid game if you are super aggressive in trying to tackle some of the objectives as early as possible.

But yes you can keep going to your heart’s content. I started over because the new stuff wasn’t in my original game.

It was Leah that I was missing and now I’ve met everyone. I’m in summer now and built a chicken coup. I haven’t’ been maximizing my time, sometimes I go to bed at 1-3PM just so I can get some crops harvested. I’ve been mostly ignoring trying to make friends by gifting items.

So, I’m not really trying to do ‘well’, just trying to do enough to see what some of the progression is. I think it’s fair to say Stardew Valley isn’t really my kind of game. It’s likely that I’ll putz around a bit more with the farming, and cave exploring and call it quits in the not too distant future.